Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 1766 - 1765: Pink Crystal Spell

Since she asked Shard what exactly he did with Megan and Audrey, Shard immediately stopped opposing the Duchess’s arrangements for the banquet. He didn’t want to talk about experiences like kissing with two tongues.

So, Shard thought for a moment and then mentioned his recent encounter with a believer of the "God of Love," an old god. Of course, he didn’t mention "desire" but talked about the new arcane technique he obtained.

"The God of Love? According to the Council’s records, witches of the Fifth Era loved to seek out priests of the God of Love to seek blessings of love. However, those old grand witches who were still single never thought they’d find no pretty girls because of their peculiar personalities."

Miss Galina shared this anecdote and then motioned for Shard to try the "Love God’s Sting."

Thus, as a sparkling pink glow appeared in Shard’s hands, a beautiful pink crystalline spike appeared in his hand. Sunshine broke through the gray mist outside the window, shining on the crystal and making the ambiguous pink glow even more dazzling.

Shard blinked suspiciously. He clearly remembered that the arcane technique summoned "Love God’s Sting," similar to the red of the God of Love’s Holy Emblem, not this pink. However, the essence of the technique hadn’t deviated; it was just a color issue, which wasn’t important.

The witch eagerly took the weapon from Shard’s hand and carefully pierced it into her chest—though other locations were possible too.

"This doesn’t feel like piercing flesh with a solid object; instead, it feels like sinking into water."

She commented, letting go, and watched as the crystal embedded in her body turned into light and disappeared.

Then, a hint of pink glow appeared in her palm. With a swift flick of her hand, accompanied by a rustling sound, a crystalline longsword materialized in her hand. The sword was covered with dense clusters of crystals on its pink blade, which meant there was no blade edge.

"This kind of crystal sword doesn’t rely on a blade to inflict physical damage. Shard, you probably haven’t seen anything like this. It’s a magical weapon, a rather traditional magic sword, and it’s truly beautiful."

The twelfth-rank grand witch, who was also a twelve-ring, laughed and said this as she stood up, waving the sword around, before asking Shard to summon the "Moonlight Greatsword" to test the hardness against each other.

After allowing the crystalline longsword to disperse into specks of light, the witch raised her hand and waved again. Several streams of pink light descended like tiny meteors with fiery tails, but they vanished before causing any damage to the floor:

"Crystal hail, and then this..."

She traced a circle with her finger, and on the right side of her body, several streams of pink light converged to form a giant cluster of crystal light. Moreover, as the witch charged her spell, the spirit power accumulating in the pink cluster became increasingly terrifying. Shard knew that a single strike could easily demolish a building, but fortunately, the move also dissipated into points of light before being fully unleashed.

As for Miss Galina’s final experiment, she transformed the pink crystal into a shield in front of herself. However, compared to her previous attempts, this simple spellcasting and shaping was of little consequence.

"You’re indeed a twelfth-rank witch, thinking of so many uses in such a short time."

Shard complimented from the side, and the red-haired witch waved her hand with a smile:

"You will achieve the same eventually. Besides, what I’m more concerned about than spellcasting is the fact that, as I expected, we are indeed mutually affectionate."

She sat back down, brushed a hand over Shard’s chest, making him blush slightly, and asked:

"How much did this spell consume from you?"

"Just now, I performed a standard casting, so the loss was one-quarter of my spirit limit."

In fact, the standard casting consumption of the "Love God’s Sting" was a temporary reduction of one-third of the spirit limit, but Shard was affected by the "Divine Afterglow," making one-quarter equivalent to one-third.

"Your spirit is truly enormous; just one-quarter of the limit brings such effects. However, this kind of crystalline soul magic doesn’t enhance me much. It’s not that its effects aren’t strong; it’s just that I have better personal means. But for those girls whose level is slightly lower than yours, it would be very useful."

Miss Galina commented, while Shard ceased his spellcasting, allowing his spirit limit to return to normal.

"Do you also consider this a soul-type arcane technique?"

Shard asked curiously, and Miss Galina nodded:

"It’s definitely a soul-type arcane technique. You’re still in the Inner Ring, so you don’t have much exposure to this, but most high-ring sorcerers have at least one or two soul spells, which is one of the symbols of high rank."

She gestured for Shard to use the arcane technique again. Among the other two in the room, Angelina wasn’t a circle sorcerer yet, so it could only be used on Tifa.

So Shard once again conjured the pink crystalline spike and handed it to Tifa. Along with Angelina behind the office desk, the three of them watched as the black-haired Miss Maid inserted the crystal into a part that made other girls envious.

The crystal melted into her body, and Tifa first attempted the spellcasting process that Miss Galina had just used. The crystal shaping worked, but the level of crystal hail and crystal clusters was noticeably weaker.

"The belief of those believers of the God of Love is said to be the core divine art of the Order, and it’s understandable. This basically adds a whole system of crystalline soul spellcasting out of thin air."

Shard held this in high regard, while Miss Galina was interested in other matters, she let out a soft laugh:

"Tifa can use it too... You and my maid, you’re indeed having an affair."

Listening to all of this, Angelina didn’t find it strange at all. Instead, she thought it was a matter of course, having seen such things too many times. The black-haired maid didn’t show any expression, which meant Shard had to face the topic himself:

"Hmm..."

"Look at you, it’s not like I didn’t know before. Why are you so nervous? Do I really seem like a villain?"

She teased him a bit, then spoke about other Grand Witches:

"Emma arrived in the City of Glass this morning, while Vanessa will bring Ciris Lathes and the Golden Dawn to the South Shore of Green Lake by the weekend or early next week. Granny Cassandra and Hevy might be slightly later, but it’s just a matter of a little over a week."

Shard noticed that when she referred to other witches, she used their names for all except the Old Witch.

"So does the Council have any plans for Green Lake? Does your Speaker intend to do anything?"

"Yes, the Speaker is aware of Megan’s identity as a descendant of the Edwards Family and naturally suspects if she is The Chosen One.

This opportunity is very rare, so the Speaker instructed us to actively explore the secrets of the Edwards Family under safe conditions. The command of this operation is given to me. I’ll finish my current tasks first, and then find a way to get more detailed information about Green Lake Central Island. When the five witches assemble, we’ll proceed cautiously, but still according to Megan’s wishes, as she is the protagonist."

Shard nodded:

"So how do you plan to obtain information about Green Lake Central Island?"

As far as he knew, Miss Galina didn’t have any sources of information locally.

"It has to be you, of course. Is there anyone who knows more about it than you lately?"

The witch laughed, sitting on Shard’s lap and wrapping her arms around his neck, indicating that he should pick her up.

When Shard stood up, the witch instructed her own personal maid:

"This afternoon, even if my nephew Larus III personally comes over from Tobesk, I won’t see him. I’m going to interrogate some important information about Green Lake, so don’t let anyone disturb us."

"Yes, Miss."

Tifa said and winked at Shard. However, Miss Galina, who was speaking softly in Shard’s ear at the time, didn’t notice her actions. The witch whispered:

"The bedroom is on the third floor, I’ve already had someone chill the wine in advance, we can... have a drink together."

Her voice was somewhat husky, and for a moment, it reminded Shard of "Desire."

"But..."

"You’re definitely going home overnight, it’s hard to persuade you not to return at night, so it can only be the afternoon. After a boring train journey finally ended, wouldn’t it be nice to help me change my mood? Besides, as I said, last night when you were in the reeds, not to know me, I’ll give you a reward. I’m the Duchess of Draleon, I keep my word."

She whispered a few more words in Shard’s ear, causing even the bold Outlander to blush a bit. The witch was very satisfied with this result, and after advising the embarrassed Angelina to carefully review the documents needed for tomorrow, she whispered again:

"Oh, didn’t you say earlier that you also gained new powers and a blessing from the Moon last night? Why not show me now?"

Thinking about "Desire," the delayed "after-effects" of yesterday’s multiple encounters with "Desire" began to manifest. Recalling Luviya’s interpretation of the dream this morning as "teeming with desire," Shard thought for a moment, then lowered his head and kissed the side of the red-haired lady’s face he was holding, making the smile on her face even more radiant.

"But it really won’t interfere with your business, will it? I don’t want to damage your reputation."

He carried Miss Galina in a princess carry towards the study door, and the witch lightly shook her head, saying with a smile:

"If it really requires me to show up, I could have Little Angelina come to the bedroom and take my place for a bit."

Even though there was her own Head Maid in the room, she specifically mentioned her grandniece, which was a tease aimed at two people, no, three people.

With her face flushed red, Angelina watched as the two figures disappeared at the door, while the black-haired Head Maid just smiled at her and followed. Thus, Her Highness Angelina Cavendish, filled with a mix of anticipation and anxiety, with sweaty palms, absent-mindedly looked over the documents in the study all afternoon, rehearsing various possible scenarios in her mind.

But until evening, aside from the maid who delivered the afternoon tea, nobody came. As for her beautiful grandaunt, the red-haired witch who dared to challenge a knight, she spent her first romantic and passionate afternoon in Green Lake City with perfect satisfaction.